Al Bhed Blues
Chapter Two: Mission Complete?
Thunder rumbled overhead, shaking the tent. I still squirmed under the blanket, but now it was a different feeling. Not exactly fear but what?
I reached a trembling hand into the pack I brought with me (no, no, definitely not, no, bingo!) and found what I was looking for, the sphere-oscillo finder. It's the thing we Gullwings take with us on missions to help locate sphere waves. Right now it was emitting a faint beeping noise. Just my luck, the sphere was definitely nowhere near the tent. If I wanted to find it, I'd have to go out onto the, gulp, Thunder Plains…
You can do this Rikku! You're a sphere hunter, remember? You're not afraid!
'You're not scared, are you?' Paine's voice re-entered my thoughts.
"No, I'm not!" I burst out, my voice rivalling the thunder. "I'm not!"
'So, what are you going to do?'
"I'm gonna find that sphere!"
I crawled out from under the blanket, sphere finder in hand. This was it, the moment of truth. Pushing aside the flap, I looked out over the vast plains.
'Rikku, oui'na so cecdan... E muja oui...' Brother's words came back to me. For some reason, those words filled me with a feeling that I can't describe. They made me feel calmer, less nervous. Maybe he's not such a jerk after all.
"I-I can do this," I stuttered, my heart began to beat wildly again. I shook my head. You can't give up now Rikku. You're so close! One… two… three!
I lunged out of the tent, landing on my hands and knees like a cat. Lightning struck and I snapped my eyes shut. Was this the end? Well, if it is I'm not going down without a fight!
Minutes passed before I opened my eyes.
"Huh? I'm… still here." I was still alive! And I didn't smell like fried gyshal greens! The lightning didn't hurt me at all! I scrambled to my feet and raised my fist in triumph. "Hah! Who's laughing now storm? Me, that's who!"
A rumble of thunder greeted my elation.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! Now, I gotta find that sphere!"
I trudged across the Thunder Plains in search of the sphere, the occasional flash of lightning causing me to do nothing more than flinch. It was soothing, now that I think about it. Well, sort of. The sphere finder wasn't helping at all. That constant beeping was going to drive me crazy before I found the sphere, I just know it.
Day one and no sign of the sphere. How long will it take me to find it? Will these empty plains become my grave? I shook my head. Snap out of it, Rikku! Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts… Remember that cute shoopuff? Tee-hee! Yeah.
Day two. Still no sphere. Happy thoughts would only get me so far and this was taking longer than I expected.
Days three and four passed in a blur, a few battles with some Stalwart interrupted my search. Guess what? Still no sign of that stupid sphere. I have a feeling I might just smash it when I find it.
Eat, sleep, search. Eat, sleep, search. That became my mantra as I trekked over the plains.
"Oh, how many days have I been out here?" I moaned, shaking the water from my hair. "This is taking too long! I-huh?" I blinked, not quite sure if what I was seeing was real or the product of some crazy hallucination. It looked like an orange glow was coming from behind a Qactuar Stone. The sphere finder was vibrating in my hands, beeping wildly. This must be it! The sphere!
Tossing the sphere finder aside I dashed over to the rock and grabbed the source of the light. It was a sphere. I raised my arms in triumph. "Yes! Whoo-hoo! I did it!"
Back aboard the Celsius I beamed as the crew examined the sphere, correction, my sphere.
"Impressive," said Shinra. "Let's see what's on this thing."
[Begin Sphere Transmission]
Lightning sparked and thunder crackled overhead. The misty light of the thunder plains made it difficult to see, but the outlines of two figures were visible. They were waving their arms back and forth to some unheard melody. A giant bolt of lightning struck and the figures recoiled, "Shoo bright!"
[End Sphere Transmission]
I stood there dumbfounded. This was the treasure sphere I risked my life to find? But it's, it's-
"It's a dud," Paine remarked, walking away from Shinra's station.
"But, but, but-"
"We'll get it next time," Yunie said confidently, patting me on the shoulder. "Look on the bright side. You're not afraid of the Thunder Plains anymore, are you?"
"But, but, but-" She was right, but that wasn't the point!
"Hey, more treasure sphere waves…" Buddy's voice broke into my nonsensical sputtering.
"Really?" I instantly felt my spirits lift up. "Where are they coming from? I can handle it! Leave it to Rikku, the amazing treasure sphere hunter!"
"Strange, looks like the Farplane…"
"W-what?" My face fell. It felt like a thousand-pound weight was dropped right on top of me. The Farplane? Oh, that was even worse than the Thunder Plains! Totally creepy!
"Just kidding Rikku," Buddy laughed. "I can't believe you took that seriously!"
W-what? My eyebrow twitched. D-did he just say- "Rahhhhh! Buddy!"
"Uh oh!"
Yep, it was just another ordinary day aboard the Celsius…
A/N: Yeah! It's finally finished. Took a while, huh? I'm a procrastinator -.-; Ah, well, school's over so I had time to get this done. Thank you to the wonderful reviewers (Dark, FF Fan, Dante's Angel of Chaos) who reviewed (Ack! The repetitiveness!) the first chapter.